A Letter To President Musharraf

=== Interact Removed ===

rf786: Yes, indeed. This is the true day of Independence and of Freedom for Pakistan. Independence of the Judiciary, the true day of freedom when the Jury of "We, the People" spoke out loud and clear through peaceful demonstrations on the streets.

I am surprised that you say that the Musharraf's greatest strength is an independant judiciary - how could a man who mocks the election process to stay in power find a friend in an independant judiciary? So what Musharraf did was no mistake, but merely a desperate attempt by him to intimidate the Chief Justice who steadfastly refused Musharraf the right to walk all over basic rights in Pakistan (the basic rights to habeas corpus and the basic right to vote). Musharraf's claims to being some kind of an "enlightened moderate" are bs - he has been kow-towing to maulvis from day one, joking about women who were raped, refusing to abolish the hadood ordinance and blasphemy ordinance.

No, it is not a strong judiciary that is the best friend of a dictator. The only friends of a dictator are fascists - Islamic fascists who make him seem like the lesser of two evils, and ethnic fascists of mqm who came out with guns to shed the blood of the true martyrs of Pakistan on May 12.

EXCELLENT!....and BRAVO

``Vohi raaz jo meiN naa keh sakaa , vohi baat hoantoaN pay aa Gaee

What you want for your country is not what America wants for your country. What is to your benefit is not to America`s benefit. The ISI knew full well what was going on, deception is their game, just that they were happening to deceive both the leader (Musharraf) who has fallen out of favor with the Americans as well as the Pakistani people as they ferment a mini civil war to bring the most benign ``temporary democracy``- to be followed by another military coup right on the heels of their Iran Invasion...the carnage at the Lal masjid was nothing compared to the slow carnage of people in the millions that suffer the devastating effects of poverty- as a direct result of US policy. You have the privilage of travelling with your ``green passport``, they are lucky if they make a meal a day...

IN #2 read, << just that they were happening to deceive >>> as

just that they happened to deceive

My first reaction was to write a sharp rebuke to your article.

Then I thought about that and decided better.

While this and successive govts grew the radical islam weed abundantly, you cannot blame the govt for carrying out an operation against the clerics at lal masjid.

I am a citizen of Islamabad, and would hate to have it radicalized. It is unfortunate enough that masses of middle class educated people are lining up to blindly follow ignorance in the name of religion. There is nothing enlightened or humane about the brand of religion these people are preaching and those that are following it. Denying plurality; Denying equality of women; Promoting misery and frowning upon arts and culture.

So, no thanks, screw the intolerant tenants and preachers. We need more modernity, more enligthenment, democracy, freedom, better human rights, better economic conditions.

So please don`t give us your bogus body counts. Even one life lost due to agression is a tragedy. Whether it be a muslim life, or a hindu, or a christian, or a jewish life.

Perhaps the army could hold on a bit longer, but in the end, it was a hostage situation.

-regards
Thinking.

BTW-

The sale of alcohol and ``whore houses`` does not warrant vigilante style torture harassment and kidnapping. Shame on you.

Do not give religious vigilante`s power to control your life. That road leads to hell, as you can see in Afghanistan. The means do not justify the ends.

Were the LAl Masjid people raving lunatics?

No. They were human beings. The clerics (male and female) seemed reasonably intelligent and educated. But they were driven by blind ideology. This blinded them to human rights, ethics, and made them intolerant of any opinion other than thier own.

Keep in mind: these are the same people that threatened to throw acid on the faces of female students in Quaid e azam university if they did not cover thier faces (hijab).

Please, ignore your idelogical urges for a second, and follow the principle in th quran itself: that human rights come before the rights of God.

-thinking

#5 thinkingstorm <<< Do not give religious vigilante`s power to control your life. That road leads to hell, as you can see in Afghanistan. The means do not justify the ends >>>

Pakistan Army/US had more to do with the Afghanistan that became hell than any ``religious vigilantes``, hhey were just the visible face of that hell that you reproduced detached from its context. If the Mullah vigilantes come to power in Pakistan it will again have to do more with the Pak Army/US than any independant cause or the default of the Pakistani people- think about what you write...

Author,

Mr. President, are you not aware how many whore houses operate in the capital?

Oh no ... just when I thought Aunty Shamim was coming back ...

I’ve heard a lot of talk from your government about how you had no choice.

He didn`t have a choice on 12 October 1999 either. When you have guns, you don`t need to choose. So the matter will be solved with guns. If you heard the speech yesterday, there was no mention of the elections due in just a few months, but there was an announcement of equipping the Frontier Constabulary with not only more recruits, but giving them tanks which no paramilitary force in the world has. What he`s trying to do is to distance the army, but let the paramilitary be roasted in the inevitable fire in FATA.

So, your idealism as noble as it may be, is not realistic. There will be a lot more bloodshed than you`ve seen so far.

#7 by zeemax on July 13, 2007 11:52am PT


Oh no ... just when I thought Aunty Shamim was coming back ...


I heard Aunty shamim is opening her business under the name aunty aziz and will be offering the services of the ninja chix..those that didn`t croak...

Thank you all so far, for all your comments.

masadi:

i realize my position of privlege can be irksome. Please realize that I only want equality of opportunity for all. Hence my plea for good governance to the President of Pakistan.

thinking storm:
thank you for holding back and thinking before writing. I request you re-read my letter, think some more and then comment.

Nowhere have i condoned the actions of those who promote extremism and/or fanaticism. My letter nowhere defends the actions of the mullahs of lal masjid, nor does it celebrate cruel indoctrination in the name of Islam.

you write ``We need more modernity, more enligthenment, democracy, freedom, better human rights, better economic conditions``. I wholeheartedly agree. Why then, do you not understand that I`m saying ``Mr president, dont let things get so bad that we need to start killing HOSTAGES``. You are a citizen of islamabad. Would you feel the same satisfaction were you or a loved one locked up in there? Would you have sacrificed yourself for modernity, enlightenment, freedom, ``more`` human rights, better economic conditions?

Also, shall i misread you too and asume that government led operations such as this will bring modernity and freedom and peace?

thinking storm, hello again.

you live in islamabad. why dont you go and investigate how bogus my figures are.

Khadija-

Thanks for your restraint as well ;).

Yes, you are partially correct. I misread parts of your letter. There are still parts that I don`t agree with (see my two interacts below), but I see that you are not condoning the mullah behavior, rather your anger is directed at the government`s behavior in the larger arena.

re: Masadi`s itis ISI and govt

It is true that the ISI and govt play a large role in a mullah brigade, but keep in mind, the mindset a generation is altered with this behaviour. If the moderates let the mullahs reign more freely, we will descend into an even worse spot than we already are.

-thinking

#10 by khatam-shud,

Your figures are correct. Thanks for publishing them.

Re: # 7
Hello zeemax,

worry not. plenty of aunty shamim`s will remain. im sure you`ll manage to find them quite easily when you want/need them :)

Again, there is always a choice. But it has to be a timely one. Theres a difference between choosing a path and betwen running damage control. My problem with lal masjid and other situations like it is not that it was stormed to control the lunacy it was spreading, but why was it ever given the opportunity to become the monster it became?

I was not convinced when musharraf addressed us yesterday and said that he and his staff did everything that they could, including requesting imaam-e-kaaba to negotiate. We dont have the whole story. We never have, we never will.

and yes, there will be more bloodshed, crisis will follow crisis. arent you tired of it? dont you want change? however idealistic a cry it may be? dont you believe in raising your voice? Its all we really have, isnt it?

#13 by khatam-shud on July 13, 2007 12:30pm PT


but why was it ever given the opportunity to become the monster it became?


It was allowed to grow because indoctrinating your population to produce jihadis to fight in kashmir and afghanistan was the policy of your country...and before 9/11 and the uncomfortable questioning the holders of green passports have to go through, we hardly saw anyone speaking out against it...

it was a choice, not an accident...